The city of Sorrento is placed in the Naples Gulf and it is full of tourists all the year long because of its big variety of striking landscapes.

The Sorrento territory is, in fact, characterized by hills, mountains and sea cliffs. Other peculiar features of this city are its several terraces with their citrus trees. Thanks to its mild climate you can visit Sorrento in every season of the year. Here you can find many naturalistic trails that still keep their original features. All these elements make Sorrento one of the most famous place in Italy.

This coloured city is the Torquato Tasso native land having also represented a real refuge for many international artists and writers like Byron, Keats, Scott, Dickens, Goethe, Wagner, Ibsen and Nitzsche.

Today Sorrento is a modern city where you can visit a prestigious museum (called Correale di Terranova): here you can find important objects recalling both the local history and which one of the traditional craftsmanship of the inlaid wood. In Sorrento there are also many cultural events (like the Scientific Cinema Meetings), and several musical events (like the Sorrento Musical Summer). Moreover this city’s location allows tourists to reach all the surrounding most attractive villages like Capri, Ischia, Naples, Ercolano, Pompei, Positano and Amalfi.

Visiting Sorrento you can also admire a big heritage made up by important monuments, churches, museums and squares. Sorrento still preserves its ancient shape of Roman city together with some ruins of the XVI century defensive walls that surrounded it.

The most important monuments that deserve your attention are:

The Sorrento Cathedral

This Romanesque church dates back to the XV century. Here you can admire some XVIII century paintings created by the artists of the Naples School, a marble throne and a inlaid wood chorus made by some local artisans during the XX century. On the bell tower you can admire an ancient ceramic watch.

The San Francesco Cloister

This cloister dates back to the VIII century. It is characterized by a mixture of architectonical styles while its refectory has kept its original XVI century structure. Beside this cloister there is the S. Francesco Church that dates back to the XVI century. Inside this church you can admire a wooden statue representing San Francesco with the crucified Christ.

The San Antonino Basilica

This basilica was built during the X century in honour of San Antonino who is the sailors protector. In its crypt there is the San Antonino grave where there are thousands of exvotos put by local sailors.

The Chiesa delle Grazie

This XVI century church has an unique nave where you can admire artistic works made by artists coming from the southern part of Italy between the XVI and the XVIII century.

The Sedile di Porta

The name of this construction derives from the fact that it was built near the most important entry (“Porta”) of Sorrento.

The Walloon of Mills

Among the five Sorrento Peninsula Walloons used in the past to separate all the villages from each others, the better preserved one is the Walloon of Mills whose name derives from presence of in its territory of a mill used to grind the grain.

The Sedile Dominova

This building dates back to the XIVcentury and has a Renaissance architectonical structure. It is ornamented by very interesting frescos like which one representing the Sorrento coat supported by a group of angels. In the past the urban nobles used to meet in this building to deliberate laws and to take economical and administrative decisions.

The Veniero Palace
 
This Arab – Byzantine building dates back to the XIII century. Its big windows are surrounded by yellow and grey tuff strips.

The Correale Palace

This palace dates back to the XIV century being characterized by a wide window carrying the family coat. The main door is built according the Naples style.

The Vittoria Hotel

This elegant hotel gave hospitality to very important personalities like Lord Byron, Wagner, Totò and Caruso.

The Tasso Square

This square was created during the XIX century after the transformations underwent by the city of Sorrento. This place is today the wonderful centre of the city.

Marina Grande

Marina Grande has perfectly preserved its peculiarities of a seafaring district. Here, in fact, inhabitants consider the beach both as a space of amusement and of work. This attitude is testified by the presence of several fish nets, of nautical tools and of boats. At the centre of this village there is the Sant’Anna church: Sant’Anna is the protector of this district and she is celebrated on the 26th of July.

 

The sea of “Punta Campanella” offers unique emotions to all nature lovers. Here it is possible in fact to do some guided excursions discovering the historical and archaeological marvels of this territory. The landscape you can see from this place is really wonderful especially if admired under the water through guided skin diving or through scuba diving courses.

Sorrento is also very famous for its beaches. From the centre of the city you can reach by foot the beaches of Marina Piccola and Marina Grande. Both these two beaches are characterized by black sand and by a low sea bed.

This particular colour of the sand is explained by the fact that Sorrento is placed on a tuff coast that was created 39.000 years ago by the eruption of the volcano present in the Campi Flegrei area.

Other famous beaches are:

- The famous Bagni della Regina Giovanna: here among the chalky cliffs you can also admire some Roman villas ruins. You can reach this beach through a path that starts from the olive trees. From this point you can see all the Sorrento Peninsula. This is a spectacular landscape that you can admire by taking a bath in the little lagoon connected to the sea by a natural arch. This will be a really unforgettable experience.

 - Those who love relaxing under the sun should choose the Puolo Beach. Here, in fact, there are several seaside resorts.

- Another option is represented by the seaside resort called Conca Azzurra where you can even find swimming pools for adults and children.

- A nice beach made up by shingles and sand is placed in Meta di Sorrento where you can arrive from Sorrento through the Circumvesuviana or through the bus service.

In Sorrento you can have great fun thanks to the presence of elegant open air cafés, of typical restaurants, of discos and thanks to the organization of concerts in the villas gardens.

You can also make a promenade admiring all the Via San Cesareo shops.

Sorrento has many cultural traditions: from the carnival to the very famous Easter processions, from the several summer and autumn town festivals gladden by the Sorrento ancient folkloristic dance called “Tarantella” to the rich Christmas events.

Another important Sorrento feature is the craftsmanship whose most important representation is the inlaid wood. But there also are relevant boatyards and the famous production of handmade ceramics, needlework and laces. Finally there even is the famous production of typical spirits made using local agricultural products like lemons, mandarins, oranges and walnut.

The Sorrento Peninsula dishes are indissolubly connected to the products that grow up in this fertile territory: the mild climate allows the farming of citrus trees, of oranges and lemons, of olive trees and of vineyards that represent one of the peculiar features of the Sorrento landscape.

Thanks to the generous sea also fishes and shellfishes are very used in many typical dishes.

Every recipe is dressed with the local sweet olive oil obtained by the olive trees farmed in this zone.

Here you can drink very good wines like the Red of Sorrento or the Gragnano, both of them are the result of the vineyards farmed in the local terraces.

One of the symbols of the Sorrento gastronomic traditions is the limoncello: the famous delicious digestive spirit obtained through the infusion of Sorrento lemons skins in the pure alcohol. Another typical spirit is the “Nocino” made up by Sorrento walnuts and coffee beans.

Some traditional Sorrento first courses are the Paccheri alla Sorrentina and the Spaghetti with Walnuts. As a second course you can choose is the Saltimbocca alla Sorrentina and, then, as dessert you can eat the Sospiri or the Folloviello.

Events

One of the most traditional celebrations is which one in honour of the Sorrento Patron Saint: Sant’Antonio. This feast occurs every year on the first Sunday of May when this Saint statue is carried throughout all the urban streets by a long procession.

During the first Sunday of August in Marina Piccola there is the feast in honour of the Santa Maria del Soccorso. During this celebration inhabitants construct a greasy pole covered with soap to make it hard to climb to reach the final prize.

Other important events are:

- Sorrento Music Summer (Estate Musicale Sorrentina) – From July to September 2009.
 
- Sorrento Cinema International Meetings (Incontri Internazionali del Cinema di Sorrento) – On December 2009: Since 1963 there is in Sorrento this International Cinema Festival that offers screenings of new Italian and foreign films and short films. Special prizes are given to the best productions.

- Cultural Exhibitions in Sorrento (Mostre culturali a Sorrento) – From the 10th of April to the 31th of December 2009 in the San Francesco Cloister and in the City Library (Biblioteca Comunale)

- A Year In Music (Un Anno In Musica) – From the 15th of April to the 31th of December 2009: This a series of concerts of the Piccola Orchestra (Little Orchestra) of Sorrento. These events will take place every Wednesday at 20:30 P.M. in the Carlo Di Leva Room of the Azienda Autonoma di Soggiorno di Sorrento e Sant’Agnello. The entry is free. 

- Concerts On The Terrace 2009 II year – From the 1st of July to the 2nd of September 2009 on the Hotel Gardenia terrace.

- 100 Years Together – Enrico Caruso and the Neapolitan Song – From the 10th of July to the 30th of August 2009.

- Summer Time 2009 – From the 12th of July to the 13th of September 2009 in Piano di Sorrento: a series of  musical and theatrical shows that will take place in Piano di Sorrento.

- Urban Art Festival – From the 1st to the 30th of August 2009: This festival takes place in the Sorrento historical centre offering every Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 A.M. to 22:30 P.M. a typical street market where you can find antiques and handcrafted products like the local inlaid wood creations. Every Sunday from 19:00 P.M. to 22:30 P.M. you can visit many stands full of local gastronomical products being accompaigned by live folkloristic music.

- Sorrento Music Meetings (Incontri Musicali Sorrentini) – From the 21th of August to the 15th of September 2009 in the San Francesco Cloister.

- Sorrento Jazz – From the 31th of August to the 4th of September 2009 in the Parco Ibsen and in the urban streets.

How to arrive in Sorrento

By Car:

Coming from Rome or from the north of Italy you should go through the A1 highway until Naples, then go on through the A3 “Salerno-Reggio Calabria” highway towards Salerno until the Castellamare di Stabia exit. Now you should go on through the toll-free motorway 145 until Sorrento. Coming from the south of Italy you should go through the A3 highway until the Castellamare di Stabia exit, after that,  you will arrive in Sorrento going through the toll-free motorway 145.

By Plain:

The Naples Capodichino airport (NAP) (Phone: 848.888.777) offers national and international flights towards more than 40 European cities and towards many other international cities with 27 companies. You can arrive in Naples both with traditional and low coast flights.

The closest intercontinental airport is which one of Roma Fiumicino (FCO). From this airport you can reach Naples both by train and by plain: there are, in fact, daily flights Naples-Rome that last 45 minutes.

To reach Sorrento from the Naples Capodichino airport you can catch the Curreri Buses that directly connect this airport to the centre of Sorrento. There are daily bus rides that also stop in the different villages of the Sorrento Peninsula. This bus service is available all the year long and the tickets can be bought on the bus itself paying € 10,00 (Phone: +39.081.8015420).

You can also use a taxi to arrive in Sorrento from the airport. You can find taxies outside the Terminal in the Arrivals Area and a single ride will cost more or less € 100,00.

By Train:

Arriving in Sorrento by train is very easy and cheap. From the Naples Central Railway Station in Garibaldi Square you can catch the train of the “Circumvesuviana” that directly arrives to Sorrento. These trains daily leave every 20 minutes towards Sorrento stopping in all the Sorrento Peninsula villages. The trip last more or less an hour and reservation is not required.

By hydrofoil or ferry:

Many hydrofoils and ferries leave from the Beverello pier in Naples towards Sorrento. You can choose one of these two companies:

LMP (Linee Marittime Partenopee)
(Phone 081 7041911)
 
NLG (Navigazione Libera del Golfo)
(Phone 081 5520763)

Many hydrofoils for Sorrento and Capri also leave from the Mergellina pier that is very closed to the namesake railway station.

The hydrofoils service is usually much faster than the ferries one but its price is higher. All these services are much more frequent in summer.

…Enjoy your stay in Sorrento!

Related Articles:

Sorrento Jazz

Sorrento Music Meetings (Incontri Musicali Sorrentini)

The Sorrento “Folloviello”

Sorrento Music Summer

Positano and its colours

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